“The Suicide Squad” Film Review

By Quinn Marcus

Ah, the DCEU, what a complicated relationship we’ve had over the years. From the absolute piece of garbage that was Joss Whedon’s Justice League, to the surprisingly impactful Wonder Woman, your universe has had a series of many ups-and-downs, each film conflicting with the tones and ideas of previous movies. They’ve never quite found their balance between darkness and the light, sometimes leaning to more MARVEL territory with their PG-13 films, and more to the opposite side of the spectrum with film’s like Birds of Prey. Over 10 movies in, and they still haven’t figured out what audience they want to impress, or what style they wish to continue with. To be perfectly clear, I haven’t seen Ayer’s Suicide Squad, and I don’t think I ever will, but Gunn’s version is definitely one of the DCEU’s best efforts to date. It’s off the rails insane, features a ridiculous plot, and has a surprising amount of heart beating at its core, whilst not forgetting to remind us how R-rated this movie actually is, and if you ask me, this is exactly the kind of DC movie we need, a little late, but better than never.

The Suicide Squad tells the story of a group of villains who are forced to band together as a task force run by Amanda Waller to destroy any trace of something known only as “Project Starfish.” Armed with weird powers, and high-tech weaponry, the team must take a journey through the island of Corto Maltese in hopes of completing their mission and losing 10 years off their prison sentence.

If I were to describe The Suicide Squad in one word, I’d say “bonkers” is pretty fitting, this movie is a trip into madness, honoring the spirit of the classic comic-book characters that now inhabit the screen. The villain in this film, as my dad liked to describe him as a “giant pinata,” is literally a massive Starfish, you don’t get much crazier than that. As you’re watching, you can feel that James Gunn was allowed to create without restraining himself, it’s so satisfyingly absurd and chaotic that while it can get exhausting, it was almost refreshing to see a superhero film go this far, and trust me, it pays off big-time. I had a blast with this film, the opening 15mins alone might be my favorite introduction to a superhero movie ever, I couldn’t stop laughing, the action was over-the-top, big, loud, and exciting, while also remaining extremely self-aware. In total, there’s a good 45-50mins of The Suicide Squad that’s actually pretty incredible, and downright brilliant. Unfortunately, my issues lie with the whole middle section, and I’ll tell you why.

When you open with such a marvelously insane hook, it’s inevitably going to be tricky to keep up that same electric momentum for the remainder of the film, thankfully, this does give way to some pleasantly heartfelt scenes, but it does drag, the jokes get old, and before long, I started to lose interest. Little did I know that the finale of this film would be as magnificent as it was. The final battle is badass, action-packed, and full of epic character moments, it’s exactly what I want out of a comic-book movie for a conclusion, and it didn’t disappoint. The effects, both practical, and CGI, the cinematography, and stunt-work operate at 100% throughout the film, each technical aspect was used creatively, colorfully, and occasionally beautifully. Especially a scene where Harley breaks out of prison and instead of blood coming out of the soldier’s wounds, it’s flowers. Gunn managed to make this one of the most aesthetically pleasing comic-book flicks out there, and that’s pretty huge.

A lot of the film’s gory, laugh-out-loud action sequences were reminiscent of Prime Video’s series The Boys, and even a few Tarantino films, something the director was clearly inspired by. Every member of the cast brings their A-game, Margot Robbie is fantastic in her role as always, Elba as Bloodsport, and Daniela Melchior as Ratcatcher 2 both made for great additions to this universe that I want to see more of. Although I thought Joel Kinnaman as Rick Flag did a solid job as an actor, his character was the most uninteresting of the bunch in my opinion and ended up being the most forgettable for me. Otherwise, King Shark is gonna be a new fav, Polka Dot man is awesome, and the whole team dynamic was done very well. While The Suicide Squad is far from perfect, I’m so glad to see a director like Gunn able to go as off-the-rails with this film as he did, he obviously felt passion for this project, and you can tell, every part of this movie screams fun, there’s no question of that. Overall, I don’t think it’s better than Gunn’s Guardians film’s, it simply doesn’t fully carry the same entertainment value, and it isn’t quite my favorite DCEU movie, but for what it is, anybody can have a good time with The Suicide Squad, it’s a crowd-pleaser, and does it’s job to the max.